How to make the Lincolnshire Chef's perfect Christmas turkey dinner

After learning his trade growing up as a baker and butchers son in Louth, Steven Bennett spent the early years of his 20-year career working his way up through the ranks in various award-winning and Michelin starred restaurants

After a recent five year stint as owner and Chef Patron at the multi award-winning two Rosette restaurant, The Comfy Duck, Steven Bennett now runs his consultancy and catering company, The Lincolnshire Chef.

He also cooks at private dinner parties and provides catering at events for up to 500 guests in locations in and around Lincolnshire.

Steven with his team at The Lincolnshire Chef are now at the helm of Healing Manor Hotel, running the 37 bedroom manor house, pub The Pig and Whistle, two beautiful wedding venues and soon to be relaunched restaurant, The Portman.

Steven shares his perfect recipe for a traditional turkey dinner and all the trimmings!

Preheat your oven to 200ºc and line a sheet of foil with grease proof paper twice, one for each leg, and lay out 6 rashes of bacon on each. In a glass bowl, mix together the sausage meat, herbs, chestnuts, roasted onion & dried fruits and get stuck in mixing with your hands.

Take one of your de-boned Turkey legs and lay the ½ the sausage meat in the center before placing on top of the bacon. Form into a sausage shape, making sure the sausage meat runs throughout the centre of the turkey.

Roll the bacon to seal the Turkey and fold over the greaseproof and foil before sealing together the ends. Repeat this with the second leg, bacon and left sausage meat, before placing into a baking dish and cooking for 1hr.

Once cooked, remove from the oven and leave to rest for 5 minutes, otherwise the meats going to be too hot to hand. Remove the foil and grease proof paper and if you like your bacon crispy, place back into the hot oven for 5-10 minutes until it starts to brown.

To serve, slice generously and place with your Christmas Turkey and Veggies.

Take a look at the video for additional guidance

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The Perfect Christmas Veg

Flavourful veg will make your dinner a hit

Carrots

5 English carrots

1tbsp Lincolnshire Rapeseed Oil

25g butter

A pinch of fresh thyme, roughly chopped

Salt and white pepper to season.

Peel the skin from the carrots and remove the majority of the green. Blanche in a pan of water for 2 minutes, remove and drain. Add the oil to the pan before seasoning with white pepper and salt. Gently fry, turning over the carrots to make sure they're coated with the oil.

Sprinkle over some fresh thyme and add a knob of butter. Whilst the carrots are gently frying, for around 5 minutes, baste with the oil and butter until they're beautifully coloured and cooked to a crunch.

Red Cabbage

1 small red cabbage, shredded

50g butter

2tbsp ground cumin

1 cinnamon stick

1 Bay Leaf

1 apple, grated

Juice of 1 clementine

50g Raisins

50ml spiced rum

1 cup fresh apple Juice

1 cup fresh orange Juice

½ tbsp Lincolnshire runny honey

In a saucepan, add 50g butter and gently fry the cabbage ad add the ground cumin, bay leaf and cinnamon stick. In a separate bowl add the rum to the raisins and leave to soak.

Add the apple and orange juice along with the honey to the cabbage, before adding the juice of 1 clementine and a grated apple. Reduce for 30minutes occasionally stirring, before adding the rum and raisins and you're ready to serve.

Roast Potatoes

4 large Marris Pipers, peeled and cut into 6

50g Duck or Goose Fat

Pre heat a roasting tin with the duck fat in a hot oven. In a heavy based saucepan, boil for 10 minutes in salted water, cook until the outsides start to come away.

Drain and place straight into the preheated tray with the duck fat, season with salt and white pepper (you can use black, but this will make the potatoes look like they have flecks of burnt bits, so white pepper is a disguise for great seasoning).

Cook for 30 minutes in a hot oven at 200ºc until browned on the outside and soft and fluffy on the inside.

Kale & Sprouts

2 loose handfuls of fresh Kale

Sprouts -As many as you can handle – 2-3 per person

Salt and pepper to season

25g butter

Peel the outside leaves, and boil in the same pan of water used to boil the carrots, whole for 3 minutes, before adding the kale. To prep the kale, remove the leaves from the stalks (if you leave the stalks on, the leaves are going to be over cooked and inedible). This will also speed up the cooking time! Add to the pan of sprouts. Cook for 1 minute before draining.

Place a knob of butter in the same pan you fried your carrots in and place the drained greens before seasoning with salt and pepper, before serving with the rest of your vegetables.

A Lincolnshire based stuffing (Image: Illuminated Studios)

How to cook your stuffing

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Recently awarded his second Rosette, winning Business Person of the Year at the Northern Lincolnshire Business Awards, and granted Guild of Master Craftsman, Steven's style of food embraces traditional French cooking, combined with modern dining and his ethos of locally sourced, seasonal ingredients.